To better understand the biochemical and physiological processes underlying tree growth and tree-ring formation.

To model small-scale process of tree/stand growth.

To combine stable isotope dendroclimatology and plant process modeling.

To assess functional dependencies between climate variables and physiological-biochemical processes in trees.

To set-up a German Dendro-Isotope-Network.

To reconstruct of climate variables from annual ring parameters (including isotope content) for the time since AD1850.

To provide a key to retrospective tree physiology that will enable us better to predict plant response to future global change.